Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Tropes

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl, wherein each week bloggers list out their Top Ten.

This week’s theme “Favorite Tropes” (suggested by Andrea @ Books for Muse) was delightfully easy. Just opened up my favorites shelf and looked through my books for what I loved about them lol! My favorite tropes are as follows:

Rivals turned Lovers

I love this trope so much because it has snarky bantering! The whole ‘just kiss already’ tension! The sudden blushing! It’s just *chef’s kiss*

Mutual pining

The best one in this is childhood/long-time friends to lovers, because they are unsure of the other’s feelings and are all ‘conceal don’t feel’ about it. And the best part I love about it? Those inscrutable expressions, or sudden silences that hint at SOMETHING MORE!!

Found family

I am always down for found family tropes because there is so love and meaning in those. Especially love it when it is a group of misfits/friends who come together and feel a belonging to each other. Bonus: ride or die friendships.

Lost heir

Can see it coming a mile away, but damn if I don’t like a lost heir trope! Especially when it ties into a Chosen One trope.

Pawn becomes Queen

There’s something so appealing about a character arc where they start at the bottom rungs of power and ascend during the story. A very frequent use of these are in dystopias, sure, with the young revolutionary trope, but I do love these in fantasy, too!

Blackmailed over secrets

Pretty Little Liars made this trope famous, and I love the shit out of it, even though it is practically unchanging. Simply put, it is about a group of people (usually privileged teens in a small town) who commit a crime and think they got away with it, but then somebody knows and is now blackmailing them or simply out for revenge.

Love Interest Betrays the MC

I sort of love-hate this trope because dang it strikes me right in the heart! And every time it comes up in a book I am reading, I am like – how COULD you??? How could you sink my ship like this????

Back from the Dead

I can see it coming a mile away and yet I love it! You think the character died, but surprise surprise a few chapters later, or maybe even in the next book, they come back! They were almost dead, thought to be dead or revived from the brink of death but now they are back, baby!

Tortured monster

Best in cases when the MC considers themselves to be monstrous. High angst potential, and they usually have a sunshine character supporting them which gives me all the feels.

Training school

What don’t I love about this trope?! There’s petty rivalries, some lasting bonds formed, you either get an irritating yet lovable roommate or a built in best friend roommate, time and space for exposition without being boring, deadly tests, suspected spies, etc. This trope has so much potential!

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Which tropes do you love?